The Exception(9)

“He always does.” She smiled.

“Okay. I’m going to go so you can get some rest. I wish you could be here with me.”

“Me too. But no worries. We’ll take a trip one of these days.”

After saying goodbye, I rubbed my hand down my face. The guilt I felt about not flying straight to New York was eating at me. Kristen wouldn’t hear of it and told me to go somewhere for a while to collect my thoughts before settling in to my new life. She was one of the strongest women I knew and I couldn’t wait to see her.

After I took a shower, I curled the ends of my long brown hair, slipped into my floral spaghetti-strapped sundress, and headed downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. When I walked in, I saw Drew and Jess sitting at a table. He was reading the newspaper and she was looking at her phone. Sighing, I asked the hostess to seat me on the other side of the restaurant.

As I sipped on my coffee, my phone rang, and it was Kellan.

“Hi there,” I answered.

“Hey. Sorry to bother you on your vacay, but I have to ask. You haven’t used any of your old credit cards, right?”

“No. I haven’t. I’ve been paying cash or using my new card.”

“Good. Your mom paid me a little visit earlier and demanded to know where you were. I really had to talk my way out of that one. I even had to cry. She and your father are checking all your credit cards, rental car places, airports, hotels, and your bank account.”

“They can check all they want. They won’t find anything.”

“Apparently, the limo driver spilled the beans and told them he dropped you off at Pier 59.”

“That *. I paid him good money to keep his mouth shut.”

“Well, your parents paid more to get the truth. But he didn’t tell them you got into a cab. He just said that when he dropped you off, he saw you walking down the street on foot.”

“Did you get rid of the dress?” I asked.

“Yeah. I went to the hotel last night, boxed it up, and sent it off to that girl in Wisconsin this morning.”

“Thank you.”

As I looked up, I saw Drew looking over at me. I gave a small smile and nod.

“Hello? Jill? Are you there?”

“Sorry.”

“Are you okay? Are you having second thoughts about everything?”

“God no! But I’m fine. It’s just I met this guy on the plane yesterday and then, when we landed in Los Angeles, we grabbed a bite to eat. We sat together again on the plane to Hawaii. Now he’s staying at the same hotel and I just saw him looking at me from across the restaurant.”

“Oh. Meow. Is he hot?”

I smiled. “Yeah. He is incredibly hot and he’s here with his girlfriend.”

“Damn.”

“No damn, Kellan. A guy is the last thing I need. Remember, I’m starting my life over. It’s a guy-free zone, at least for the next ten years or so.”

“I think ten years is a little ridiculous, Jilly Bean.”

“Nah. Ten should give me enough time to figure out who I am. There will be no exceptions.”

“If you say so. Go enjoy Hawaii. I just wanted to update you on the evil queen.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll talk to you later.”

As I was eating my breakfast, I saw Drew and Jess get up from their table and head out of the restaurant with his hand on the small of her back. I won’t lie and say that my mind didn’t wonder what it would be like to have him as a boyfriend. The thought of dating scared me. I had only been with one guy my entire life: Grant. Ugh. The thought of him made my stomach feel sick. He came from an influential family of lawyers. And yes, we did attend Yale together. I think it was his and my parents’ way of keeping an eye on me. His father, a hotshot lawyer, owned his own high power firm, and as soon as Grant passed the bar, he would immediately become a partner and then take over completely when his father retired. I had no clue how he was going to be a lawyer since he never bothered to listen to what anyone said unless it benefited him. He was the true definition of a narcissist. He wasn’t even all that good looking. I mean, he was cute in his own five-foot-eight way. He was your typical preppy boy. Short dark hair that swept to the side, blue eyes, and certainly no muscles anywhere to be found on his body. He always wore polo shirts, which I hated, and occasionally, he would tie a sweater around his neck. If you looked up the definition of a snob in the dictionary, you’d see his picture full front and center. He looked down on people who didn’t have the kind of wealth he had and he was never ashamed to flaunt it. He was a cheater, a liar, and didn’t care about anyone but himself. Now let’s talk about sex. The thought made me shudder. His penis. Well, let’s just say that half the time, I couldn’t even feel it. I faked more orgasms than I had actual ones, and the actual ones were compliments of myself. He thought he was the man in the bedroom, but the truth was, he was just a boy who didn’t know what the f*ck he was doing. We hadn’t had sex in months. It became draining trying to make up excuses why I didn’t want to. I was too tired, I had a headache, I had an infection, I was ovulating, I was on my period, I forgot to take my birth control pill the night before. You name it, I used it. Having sex with him was something I dreaded. It wasn’t a partnership. It was more about him satisfying his own needs.